Three thoughts from San Diego State basketball’s exhibition opener Friday night at Viejas Arena, a closer-than-it-looks 81-66 win against NAIA Cal State San Marcos:

1. Reserve judgment. It’s probably premature to judge this team for another month. And it’s definitely premature to judge it until the starters play starters’ minutes.

Coach Steve Fisher’s substitution patterns Friday were pre-determined and he stuck with them for the most part, sending in James Johnson and redshirt freshman Matt Shrigley for Josh Davis and Skylar Spencer with 5:03 left in an eight-point game. And leaving them in when the Cougars cut it to five on the next possession.

In the first half, the SDSU starters outscored the Cougars 17-3 but played together less than eight minutes. No starter played more than 26 minutes, and all 11 scholarship players got at least 10.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of UNLV’s 71-70 home loss to Div. II Dixie State in its exhibition opener Friday was less the final score than the minutes: four Rebels played 29 or more. Meaning: Coach Dave Rice can’t explain it away with the bloodying-my-bench excuse.

2. The shadow press is back. It disappeared for most of the last two seasons, but the Aztecs showed a commitment to extending their defense full court after made baskets and dead balls.

It’s still a work in progress, and mastering the rotations (when to spring the double-team, when to merely stunt and stay home) takes time at the elite level, but it could reap benefits for a team that is better suited to an up-tempo game and must find alternate ways to replace 42 points per game from last season.

Don’t be deceived by San Marcos’ 13 turnovers, just one more than SDSU. The best attribute of a relentless press isn’t always obvious on the stat sheet. It is, however, in opposing players’ lungs and legs late in the game, and it may explain SDSU scoring 13 of the game’s final 16 points – much of that with reserves – to put away a heretofore resilient Cougars team.

3. Can this gang shoot straight? Whether or not the Aztecs indeed can knock down perimeter shots, opposing teams already think they can’t. San Marcos coach Jim Saia mentioned it twice in his post-game comments. Asked the difference between the Aztecs this season and last, he replied: “Well, they don’t shoot the ball as well.”

The Aztecs did little to disavow him of that notion, shooting 4-of-17 shooting behind the 3-point arc. Outside the paint, they were 4-of-21 (19 percent); inside it, 24-of-40 (60 percent).

What that means going forward is a healthy dose of compact zones and gapped-up man defenses until the Aztecs prove otherwise. Xavier Thames and Matt Shrigley are considered the two best marksmen, and they were a combined 3-of-15 on Friday (1-of-7 on 3s).

You figure that won’t continue. And even if it does, missed shots are not necessarily a bad thing for a team that has Josh Davis, given his prowess on the offensive boards and the difficulty of effectively blocking out in a zone. Maybe the night’s most impressive stat was his nine points and six rebounds in just 11 first-half minutes. Extrapolated over, say, 35 minutes, that’s 28 points and 19 rebounds.